February 1, 2019
by: Jen Santerre
One of the biggest questions I get asked is what version of QuickBooks should I use? There are many different versions of QuickBooks and many realtors think that they can’t use it for real estate transactions. First of all, I love QuickBooks Online. It’s versatile enough that you can use it anywhere, on any computer, at any time. Also, they have a mobile app that connects to the online version so you can record things on your mobile phone or I-pad on the fly and it will be there when you go online. Here is a helpful guide for all realtors on which version to use:
QuickBook Self-Employed 
Best used for realtors not needing to pay out commissions or agents. They receive their commission check, deposit it into a bank account and want to keep track of deductions.
It will also keep track of mileage, which is a huge cost for realtors, and track quarterly tax payments if you need to make those. You can separate personal and business expenses easily and connect bank accounts which will allow you to enter in transactions easily.
QuickBooks Essentials
Best used for those who want to keep track of expenses on rental property. You can organize property as a Customer and assign expenses to each property. This 
will allow you print out a P& L on each property and see what income has been generated and what your expenses have been.
QuickBook Essentials is also good for those realtors that again, receive a commission check and just want to keep track of their expenses associated with a property they are selling. You can assign expenses to each house, such as sales signs, MLS listings, ads, client costs so you can see how much each sale is costing you and find ways to curtail spending.
One thing Essentials doesn’t do well is keep track of mileage. That you would need an separate app for. There are many different mileage apps out there. I just need a simple tracker so I like Evervance. I can download a report and attach it to my tax records. In order to record your mileage it’s a simple general entry at month end.
QuickBook Essentials also allows you to manage and pay bills online, set up recurring invoices for those rental income payments and set up recurring bills.
QuickBooks Plus
T
he QuickBooks Plus version includes all the things that Essentials has; but is best when you need to send 1099’s out to vendors or other buyer/seller real estate agents. Any payment made over $600 requires a 1099-MISC at year end. If you are a broker who had agents that work for you and need to have payments made to other agents; you will need to produce a 1099 for them. This is the biggest feature of this version. You can track 1099 payments for vendors.
QuickBooks Plus also allows for time tracking of agents should you need to keep track of their time. Also, you can bill customers for hours or expenses that might occur. You get a choice of 60 different reports to choose from.
So depending on what you have as a realtor will determine what version you should use. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at wefigureitbookkeeping@gmail.com or https://wefigureit.com/contact-us/ . We offer a FREE one hour consultation to discuss what you are looking for and what your needs are.